Chinhae Naval Base Day 2

Show 2 on our itinerary

We had managed to find a fairly well stocked music store on the way to the base and bought all the necessary parts we needed to fix our technical problems. I was amazed at the way the Koreans conduct business. The ladies who were running the store were dressed in formal attire and looked as though they were ready to go out on the town to a fine restaurant for an evening of dining and dancing. Mr. Yi explained that Koreans take business at all levels very serious and have a strong sense of professionalism even down to their dress. But they still have a market mentality. Haggling over price is considered normal and is expected, so with a little help from Mr. Yi I managed to get the equipment at a very fair price and we were on our way to the show.

Chinhae Naval Base is based on the southern coast of Korea. They are a major support hub for ships and subs in this part of the world but since it's a very rural setting they don't have much for a liberty port.

After a 5 hour bus ride we arrived and set up at Duffy's which is the base club. It's connected to a snack bar and might hold 200 people if you pack them in. The club manager was very kind and did everything in his power to make our show as comfortable as possible.

We met the vice commander who greeted us and gave each member a commemorative coin from Chinhae NB. He apologized in advance about a low turn out. Due to some unscheduled military exercises, most of the base had shipped out a few days earlier. I told him there was no need for apologies, we were there to play blues and spread some smiles and whether there were 2 people or 2000 they all get the same show - our best.

We started around 7pm and there were about 30 people, mostly medical staff and some off-duty security people in attendance at that point. The show went very smooth and Lee (our audio engineer) had a very nice mix going. The intimate setting allowed us all to relax and just enjoy playing. The band was smokin' by the end of the first set, and although the crowd was a bit small, they were VERY enthusiastic! We had a blast and they did too.

At one point I brought up HM1 Craig Smith. He's a Navy EMT who contacted us in advance and asked if we would let him sit in on a song. Our shows are usually mostly original material and are pretty orchestrated so sit ins aren't very practical, but in this circumstance I felt we had to make an exception. I brought him up about mid-show and introduced him. His buddies all stood up and cheered and clapped for him and we kicked into the B.B. King classic "Thrill is Gone."
He was a great player! He settled right in and at one point I threw him a ride with the drummer which got him another big ovation. At the end of the song I gave him a Bluzapalooza cap and CD to remember the night.

After the show I met the base doctor and talked with everyone there. We handied out photos and CDs, and signed autographs. Everyone was extremely nice to us and told us how much they appreciated our coming out. The base is small and is in such a rural area that they don't get a lot of stateside entertainment. Hell, I'd play for these folks any time. Their enthusiasm made us feel good and caused us to push ourselves musically just because we wanted to return the love they were showing us.

After the trucks were packed we stuck around to talk to folks and unwind over Burgers and drinks. The house band came on after us to finish out the night with 3 girls doing vocals out front. They really had great harmonies and Laurie, who loves harmony vocals, enjoyed their show most of all.

We finally called it a night and went back to the hotel around midnight. Feeling good and very glad to be here.

On to Osan Airbase tomorrow,
Rusty
www.rustywrightband.com